Kylian Mbappe or Thierry Henry? TNT Sports pundits Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves debate who they would pick

TNT Sports experts Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves would both pick Kylian Mbappe ahead of Erling Haaland or Harry Kane, while they believe the French star has the potential to have a better career than Thierry Henry.

Mbappe struck twice as Paris Saint-Germain reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with a 4-1 aggregate win over Real Sociedad on Tuesday.

That took his tally to six in the competition this season, the joint-highest alongside Bayern Munich’s Kane – who also bagged a double in victory over Lazio.

Manchester City danger man Haaland is in action on Wednesday against FC Copenhagen - live on TNT Sports - and is one goal behind in the rankings, but the two pundits were in agreement that out of the three strikers they would choose Mbappe.

“They are all great, there’s no wrong answer here. But Mbappe, I would pay every day to watch him train, let alone play in a match,” said Ferdinand.

“Because he creates things on his own. I could give him the ball at left-back and he might score. I could give him the ball anywhere on the pitch and he could create something that the other two, not so much.

“[The other two] are great, don’t get me wrong. Haaland, you play it through from the halfway line and he could carry two centre-halves on his back.”

He continued: “I would take any of them and be quite happy, but Mbappe has just got that something different that would make me sit up at night and think ‘thank you God for giving me him’."

The conversation then moved on to how Mbappe compares with his fellow Frenchman, Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.

“Mbappe has got to have the body of work of Thierry to back it up,” Hargreaves said.

“Talent wise, Mbappe is on a trajectory almost unheard of.

“Thierry, the longevity was remarkable. I think Kylian is on a trajectory which is remarkable. He’s already won the World Cup and he’s going to win the Ballon d’Or, that’s for sure.”

With Mbappe looking set to leave Paris at the end of the season and join Real Madrid, Ferdinand suggested his adaptation will be career-defining.

“His next move and how he adjusts to that new league that he goes to will be the definitive factor,” he said.

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